Deep ruby colour with a bit of brown topped by a pale tan head. Good lacing made up of very fine bubbles. Tart aroma with some fruity esters and a bit of tobacco. There's a hint of solventy alcohol here that was slightly distracting, but diminished somewhat with time. Syrupy sweetness balances the fruity tartness quite nicely - almost like candy. Dry finish. Very fine carbonation, full mouthfeel and palate coating. Quite nice overall. The sweet and tart combination in the flavour really works. Thanks Viggo! (512 characters)

S - Tangy and tart, also fruity and fresh. Some grainy scents are there too.

T - Alot of fruit tartness like cherries and possible red grape/apple. This beer is also acidic and has wine like qualities. The alcohol is smooth and crisp. The back of the tongue gets some wood aftertaste and the beer has some sour dryness to it as well.

M - Very effervescent and clean mouthfeel. The beer has a lighter-medium body and is very smooth and refreshing.

Notes - I enjoy sours and this is one of my favorites of the type. Its always good, easy to drink and just an overall quality choice. (649 characters)

This beer is muy bonita. Lovely deep and clear burgandy tone. A creamy and dense beige head decorates the surface. Great retention is noted. I love the aroma: brown sugar, molasses, leather, sour cherry and ginger. The taste is up to the task as well. Great flavors at work. A bit of a battle of sweet and sour with the sweet actually winning out. No make that a draw. Pretty balanced in that area. A little sour cherry. A little sweet cookie dough. A little sour lemon. A little sweet brown sugar. Some subtle spicing I note as well includes ginger, cinamon and corriander. (Although I'm not sure that this beer is purposely spiced.) There are also some oaky and smokey qualities. A really nice blend of flavors. Body is light and the mouthfeel is on the lighter side of the carbonation spectrum. Wow. I do like this bruin.

Thanks marc77. Once again you've picked a winner for me. (884 characters)

Cork exploded off the 750ml bottle without much effort. Poured a dark brownish red color with a nice creamy head. Smell is sour with vinegar and I can pick up a bit of the oak as well . Taste starts out quite smooth, then the tartness hits you and continues to build making way for a surpisingly clean and dry finish. Wow! Great Flanders Red Ale, however I do believe Rodenbach Grand Cru is far superior. A stellar brew nonetheless. (432 characters)

Poured from 750ml caged and corked bottle(best by Nov 2007 and 6%abv on the label) a ruby red with a large head of foam that settled down to a billowy layer with lots of nice lacing.

The smell is quite fruity, mostly sour cherries and some yeastiness. A *very* good nose, imho.

The taste is fruity sweet up front..I note cherries and pears with a hint of raspberry along with some good yeasty flavour..it's almost hitting me like a good flavourful Lambic. A few more sips in and the sourness that I mentioned in the nose starts to sneak up on me but wait, even at its peak, it is on the mild side. Yum. This Flanders Red Ale is taking a different route from the one I'm used to drinking and that suits me just fine. It is a super smooth drinker.

Halfway through the bottle and indeed, to the last pour, I hold up my NB goblet and see that the colour is *still* a clear ruby red, the smell and taste are *still* a delightful mix of sweet and sour fruit, the foam is *still* a sight to behold. I'm certainly I grabbed a bottle of this one on my last trip to Colorado. I would not hesitate to buy another.

Bottom line: Super smooth yet flavourful Flanders Red Ale. Do try it if you see it in a store near you! (1,218 characters)

Was fairly excited the first time I tried this, heard it was one of the all time classics. Poured equal parts light brown and dull red with a little bit of head formation. Aroma was a heavy wood and proportional sweet and sour.

Taste, the sour was very minimal was my first reaction, the sweet a little more than ideal for me, to say the least, and any degree of soggy wood, much less to that extent wasn't built to leave me all that impressed. Some flanders just don't have that acidic or fruity bite, and this be one of those. Decently covers up the alcohol, but doesn't impart really any appreciable tartness. Not enough carbonation. If anything I'd say I pull out some cocoa powder and toffee over flavors more often associated with something sour.

If there was fruit, it was that raisin and plum thing, as if it were made with tea. Sorry, I just don't see what the fuss about this one is. (895 characters)

A nearly clear ruby red with lots of carbonation, a light brown two finger foams a little darker then expected and quickly looses half its height but then sticks around a pinky deep leaving several partial rings deep down the glass

S earthy wood notes, some sour fruit, brown sugar, just a very faint hint of funk and vinegar, smells solid but could use just a little more intensity

T flavors stronger then the nose, has a sweet and sour thing going on and it works very well, cherry, strawberries and raspberries both sweet and tart, those fizzy candies that come in the two foot long strips, wood and vinegars quite faint, soft caramels add to the mix, wonderful stuff

M silky through the lips and creams up nicely, sweet and sour, a little slick inside your mouth and sticky on the lips, mild fruity aftertaste is rather clean much to my surprise

O great beer that's already gone at this point, very easy to drink and everything meshes together to create a lovely sweet and sour, fruity mix

I've had this several times before and I'm not really sure how I've never sat down and reviewed it, a classic brew that I doubt will ever go out of style (1,196 characters)

Color is maroon with a ruby glow. Head is tall and light brown. Aroma starts with an initial blast of sour funkiness, which gives way to a sweet dark fruit smell. Interesting, but relatively weak. A sip starts with plenty of tartness. Soon, sweet dark fruit flavors take over until a sugary sweet finish. A slight edge of what I believe to be oak flavor is noted as well. A constant theme here is that of sweet and tart flavors volleying for my palate's attention. The overall flavor here is excellent, very complex and layered, making this beer almost too easy to drink. Highly recommended. (591 characters)

Poured a light, red wine color with a hint of brown. Smelled a bit like red wine, but with a slight hop nuance and cherry lambic tartness. Tasted very sour, this was my first Flanders Red Ale, so I didn't know what to expect. Reminded of a cherry lambic, something I would have after dinner with a tart torte. Could also taste some winey grape notes as well. Mouthfeel was light but with an unexpected tartness, I wouldn't have more than one of these 750ml bottles in a day. (474 characters)

The colour is dark red-brown; the liquid is clear. The low off white foam slowly sinks down leaving a small amount of lacing.

The smell is Ehhh Different. Sticky sour notes chemical of acetone, red fruits, barrel-aged flavours, some bitterness and a hint of chocolate. Cool.

The taste is very complex, yet balanced and smooth. The first very sour chemical flavour passes quickly leaving room for a fruity sweet note: Red apples, cherries, raspberries, strawberries There is a mild sour note with some earthy flavours and a growing matured flavour of wood and strong wines. The aftertaste is fruity and sweet with a gentle low bitterness.

The carbonation is medium strong with lots of short-lasting small fresh bubbles. The liquid is creamy and a little bit thick.

I have never tasted anything like this. Much more fruity and matured than the fruit Lambics, still it is very sour and chemical. (913 characters)

750 ml caged and corked bottle, cork states expiration date of 12/09. Served in a snifter, the beer pours a reddish/brown color with about a half inch off-white head. Head retention is average, lacing is good. It smells like tart cherries, apples and vinegar. The taste is similar to the aroma, it tastes like slightly tart cherries, apples, plums and a bit of funk and vinegar. The taste isn't quite as sour as I expected it to be, but I think it's pretty good. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's creamy and slick and well carbonated. Drinkability is pretty good, it's smooth, refreshing and very enjoyable and easy to drink. I'd buy this again in the future, I think this is a pretty good brew. Recommended. (705 characters)

Poured from an 11.2oz bottle into little hotel glasses. The beer was more brown than red and had an off-white almost brown foam. The smell was sour and had a hint of vinegar aroma (better than it sounds).

This is one of the better tasting Flanders Reds I've had. The flavor was sweet with a sour after-taste. Absolutely perfect pairing of flavors.

Get this beer if you like sour ales. I'd recommend it even if you think you don't like the style. (452 characters)

Pours a clear dark ruby color with a one-finger off-white head with a rose tint. The head sticks around for quite a while before receding into a thin layer on top and a thick ring around the glass. Lacing is pretty heavy.

Smells sweet and sour, mostly cherries with some sour apple mingling in there as well.

Tastes similar to how it smells. Equal parts of sweet and sour flavors up front, again mostly cherries, that has a slightly tart ending.

Mouthfeel is good. It's very light and the carbonation makes it almost airy. Very nice.

Drinkability is good. It's not the most flavorful Flanders Red that I've had but it's solid.

Overall I enjoyed this one. The mouthfeel makes it very light and refreshing. Give this one a shot if you see it around. (800 characters)

Appearance - The beer pours a clear brown colour with huge fizzy beige head. There appears to be a lower than normal amount of carbonation. There is some faint lacing, and the head lasted for a while.

Smell - Slightly metallic, vinegar, plums, a peppery spice mix

Taste & Mouth - The beer has a nice mouth feel, lots of little bubbles on the tongue. It feels very light - But it is definitely not light tasting. This beer packs a punch with a whole lot of various flavours going on. I have to say that I've never encountered a beer that tasted quite like this one. It reminds me of a glass of port mixed with champagne and beer. It tastes slightly metallic, lots of sweet grape flavour, and some woody notes. It finishes with a grape and metallic bitter aftertaste.

Drink - I have to say.. not one of my favorite beers. I can see how it might appeal to some, but this beer isn't for me. (903 characters)

Well, this is one of those beers that I feel is better from the bottle than the tap, have tried it both ways several times and the bottle wins out, we did a side by side tap and bottle and to a person, everyone thought the bottle better.

The beer as it evacuates the dark brown bottle pours a deep incarnadine color with a majestic crown of tan upon that body, the consistency creamy and the residual lace a thick and clinging sheet that obfuscates the glass. Nose is sweet, fresh and crisp, hints of over ripe fruit, cherries comes to mind, bit of oak also noted, a real treat for the olfactory and ocular senses start, is sweet and malt laden, top is middling in its feel to the palate. Finish is benign in its acidity, the hops spicy and pleasant, with the aftertaste lingering long upon the palate, a true work of the brewers art. (839 characters)

Served on draught from the Uber Tavern in Seattle, in the brewery's chalice, the Duchess is a hazy dark amber with a moderate eggshell head that leaves decent lace.

The aroma is vinous and tart, minerals and dry yet sweet softess, most intriguing, very strong and sweet!

Well this is one superb Flandrers red, the benchmark bar none. Sweeter then it may sound by description, there's some apple cider vinegar like sweetness and, although there's still plenty of funk, the finish is on the sweeter side. Lots of sugar, I like them with less, but I'll still take it! Of course, some of my scoring reflects the romanticism of this being my first of the style, which immediately hooked me on the style and the whole world of sours.

The mouthfeel, while not super fluid, is fairly average for the style, which is light in spite of the sugariness.

This is a pretty good Flanders Red, especially if you like the vinegar aspect tempered with sugar...you're in major luck! The sweetness really sets this one apart in the love-or-hate category. (1,042 characters)

A - A hard cork pull relieves our "don't be a gusher" worries. An effervescent pour let the Duchesse give up a loose tan head with quickly popping and sinking bubbles. Low retention with little lace left over. The color is a clear red-brown. It looks unassuming and kind of like you pored a Coke in a tulip.

S - An oaky wood nose with an astringent, acidic sour smell kind of aims it towards the sour category. Hints of vinegar don't ruin anything, rather, it adds an extra dimension to the tart sourness the nose has to offer. Toasty malts have toffee in the background and combat the sourness reassuring that the taste wont be a mouth-puckering beer. No hop presence in this at all.

T - Delicious malty sweetness with a touch of brown sugar and caramel sweetness with toffee shavings on top. A light vinegar touch and some tart red grape with a mild funkiness backs up the malty sweetness with good balance. Awesome flavor with great depth! Mmmm.

M - The light tart funk melds well with the light-medium body and moderate carbonation finish. Very nice texture and finish but nothing in the mouthfeel really adds to the enjoyment of the beer, rather, it just helps it's awesomeness along.

D - This beer is insanely drinkable. Before finishing my review my pour from the 750 ml bottle was nearly gone. I busted out my 11.2 oz bottle to enjoy some more. Fantastic flavor and good aroma with such a well-balanced flavor and finish. I could put down a 750 ml of this myself no problem. Thanks Bnieman for recommending this time and time again and thanks Todd for bringing it over! (1,739 characters)

This comes out of the tap a beautiful opaque chocolate brown, very appetizing. Strong aroma is more like a hard apple cider than a beer. Flavor is mouth-filling and pleasing; apple taste dominates, and there is a hint of hop bitterness. Finish is very smooth and cider-like. (274 characters)